NBA Thread - 2009-10

[jmt225]

Becker... where is George Hill now? I have yet to see him this series.

Seriously though, the Suns looking fucking AWESOME. I cannot believe they're up 3-0. It's unbelievable, but this very well may be Steve Nash's year to win a championship. I certainly hope so, anyway. With the way he and the Suns are playing, I don't know how anyone could think any less. This team is unbeatable when they're on, and they've been on since the All Star break.

And LeBron showed tonight why he's the best play in basketball. What a great game against the Celtics tonight. He came out and score 21 in the first half, finishing the game with 38. When he plays like this... nobody on the East has a chance of beating Cleveland.

But yeah... Phoenix has me pumped off. I've never been a big fan of there's, but I've always liked Steve Nash and I would definitely love to see him finally get that championship ring and bring his legacy to a whole other level. He deserves that as much as anyone else.

 

[Big Sexy]

3 of the 4 second round series are now all but over. The Lakers, Magic, and Suns are a ll up 3-0 and no team in NBA history has been able to come back and win a series down 3-0. The Lakers pulled out a close one in Utah and it was on that the Jazz HAD to have. The Lakers are now set to go into their 3 straight Western Conference Finals series.

The magic absolutely decimated the Hawks once again and Joe Johnson once again played like shit. He will most likely be out of the ATL this offseason as he is a free agent and Jamal Crawford will move into the starting lineup for the next year. The Magic have been by far the most impressive team thus far in the playoffs.

Tomorrow Cleveland has a chance to basically win the series by taking a 3-1 series lead with games 5 and 7 still left in Cleveland. If LeBron and the Cavs play like they did last game then they shouldn't have any problem doing that.

 

[jmt225]

Deron Williams lost a lot of my respect last night. He should have taken that fucking ball to the hole instead of settling for the shot he did. That was completely inexcusable. With a shot like that, they might as well went to Kyle Korver, who was FANTASTIC last night, scoring 23 points and only missing 1 shot. Pretty bad call from Jerry Sloan, and even worse decision making from Deron Williams. The Jazz should be ashamed of themselves.

Also, it pisses me off how Wesley Matthews and Paul Millsap could play so well against Denver but not show up in this series. Those two have been absolutely pathetic and that kind of shit sickens me.

And Atlanta.... well, their season's over. With Joe Johnson playing the way he has been, they just cannot get it going as a team. It's a shame, but it what it is.

 

[Big Sexy]

Also, it pisses me off how Wesley Matthews and Paul Millsap could play so well against Denver but not show up in this series. Those two have been absolutely pathetic and that kind of shit sickens me.

The one thing I disagree with you on is the play of Paul Millsap. With the exception of maybe last night he has played very well in this series. Game 1 he had 16, 9 boards, and 3 assists. Game 2 he had 26, 11 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Even last night he wasn't too bad with 13 points, and 3 assists, he did just have 3 rebounds though. Millsap is really the only bench guy doing anything for the Jazz.

 

[Nev]

Yeah, I agree. I was thinking what the hell was up with that 3-pointer? Should've gone to the rim or give it to the Korver. The Jazz were outmatched by the Lakers bigs' anyway so it's not like they had a chance to win the series but still...

 

[Big Sexy]

The Celtics have beaten the Cavs so they will go back to Cleveland with the series tied up at 2 games a piece. Two things have stood out so far in this series.

1. If the Cavs lose this series it's on LeBron. The elbow injury only seems to become an issue when he plays poorly. It may affect his play a little but in no way should it be used as an excuse if the Cavs lose. I still think Cleveland will take the series in 6 games, but LeBron needs to be more aggressive like he was in game 3.

2. Rajon Rondo is now the best player on the Celtics and I don't think it's debatable. He is a top 5 point guard easily and is on his way to being up there with guys like Nash, Paul, and Deron Williams. He just put up 29 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists against the Cavs in game 4. That is as impressive a triple double as you will see. The Celtics will only go as far as Rondo takes them.

 

[Platypus Palsy]

Rajon Rondo is now the best player on the Celtics and I don't think it's debatable. He is a top 5 point guard easily and is on his way to being up there with guys like Nash, Paul, and Deron Williams. He just put up 29 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists against the Cavs in game 4. That is as impressive a triple double as you will see. The Celtics will only go as far as Rondo takes them.

The 18 rebounds is the biggest problem with all of these stats. We know he can get assists, that's what a point guard is suppose to do. The Cavs were trying to make him shoot instead of Allen or Pierce, so the points aren't that surprising. When you have a 6 foot 1 point guard getting 18 rebounds on you, you should know something is wrong. He was getting offensive rebounds on top of the fact that he was getting any rebounds at all.

Both of the Allens showed up today too. Ray was hitting his threes and Tony was hitting basically everything. The Cavs had way too many fouls and missed too many of their foul shots. They need to bring the intensity from LeBron like in Game 3 and don't let Rondo get so many damn rebounds.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

The Celtics have beaten the Cavs so they will go back to Cleveland with the series tied up at 2 games a piece. Two things have stood out so far in this series.

1. If the Cavs lose this series it's on LeBron. The elbow injury only seems to become an issue when he plays poorly. It may affect his play a little but in no way should it be used as an excuse if the Cavs lose. I still think Cleveland will take the series in 6 games, but LeBron needs to be more aggressive like he was in game 3.

2. Rajon Rondo is now the best player on the Celtics and I don't think it's debatable. He is a top 5 point guard easily and is on his way to being up there with guys like Nash, Paul, and Deron Williams. He just put up 29 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists against the Cavs in game 4. That is as impressive a triple double as you will see. The Celtics will only go as far as Rondo takes them.

Wow, I thought I was the only one who thought this. I've been called a Lebron-hater by some people for even suggesting something like this this. When Lebron plays well, and goes off for close to 40 points, then he's gutting it out, and putting on amazing performance. If the Cavs lose, it's because of the elbow injury, and Lebron gets a pass because of it. Call me crazy, but I believe this injury is being exaggerated, so if the Celtics knock the Cavs out of the second round, then Lebron won't have to take any heat because he was "injured".

I think this series is headed for seven games. The Cavs are up against a real challenge now, and Rondo is playing at a very high level right now.

 

[People's Champ]

Let me start off with the Cleveland series because that's the only one left. I'm glad to see people not giving a pass or excuse Lebron and the Cavs because of an elbow injury. It doesn't seem to be afftecting him that much. Hell there's a guy over in L.A who is pretty banged up himself and he continues to show up, no excuses. So there shouldn't be any excuse for the Cavs if they lose this series.

And as far as Rondo is concerned, he is definately one of the top guards in the league. He does everything for the Celtics. He can pass, rebound, defend. He has shown up for Boston when they needed him. Pierce is not having a good playoffs. he doesn't seem to have that confidence that he normally does. Rondo is the key to Boston beating Cleveland. This has been a crazy series with on team dominating games and quarters at a time.

Orlando is looking tho like the team coming out if the East no matter who wins the Boston-Cleveland series. Of course they beat the Bobcats and while Atlanta has a talented team, they obviously are no match for Orlando. Everything is clicking for the Magic and have to be the favorites to win the East.

I can't beleve the Sun swept the Spurs. After Game 1 you had a feeling this was going to be another classic between these teams. Nope. The Suns are just playing fantastic ball and the Spurs have no answer this time. Steve Nash is playing great as is the whole team and are looking to finally get to that promised land. But.....

My Lakers are up 3-0 and ready move on as well. And I expect this series against the Suns to be a great series but you can't realistically believe that they will beat the Lakers. The Suns don't have the experience this deep in the playoffs and the bigs for the Lakers will take control again. Artest has finally come out and played good in game 3 against Utah. We will need him for the series against the Suns and then in the Finals.

 

[jmt225]

Rajan Rondo was fantastic yesterday. I agree with Jeff Van Gundy that it was one of the absolute best performances by any Celtic ever. However, I don't think he'll play like that the rest of the series and Cleveland will end up taking this one in 6 or 7. Game 3 decided this series in my opinion, and I just don't see how the Cavs can lose it from this point on. Honestly, even with Rondo's great play, the Cavs could have still won that game yesterday, but LeBron was acting like a little bitch in the 4th Quarter. He was passive and he just wasn't into the game for whatever reason. If he had just demanded the ball and was more aggressive, Cleveland would have easily won yesterday. Also, I don't know what the fuck Mike Brown was thinking leaving Shaq on the bench nearly the whole 2nd half. If Shaq were in the middle on defense, then Rondo wouldn't have caused as much damage as he did with a force like that in the middle.

So, yeah... while Rondo was great yesterday, Cleveland still beat themselves. Terrible coaching and LeBron acting like he's scared of the ball, Cleveland will never win a game like that.

And Phoenix... oh how happy I am with them. First of all, Steve Nash is a fucking warrior. He beat the whole Spurs team with just one eye. One eye. But besides that, this team can and I think will beat the Lakers, and I cannot wait to see it. I'll go more into it right before the series begins.

 

[jmt225]

Question for everyone who watched the Cavs/Celtics game last night:

Why did Boston win? Was it because they're the better team, or are the Cleveland Cavaliers choking right now?

I'm very interested in hearing what you all have to say.

Personally, my opinion... while you can claim that Boston is playing better than they have all season, you cannot deny the fact that Cleveland is certainly helping them out. I mean, man.... Cleveland is just playing terrible. LeBron was nowhere to be seen last night. Where the fuck was he? Not only did he play bad, but it looked like he wasn't even trying. He gave up in both games 4 and 5, in my opinion. He is seriously losing all my respect right now. He better come out in game 6 and fucking play his heart out, otherwise this will forever haunt his career. No elbow excuse; it's all about his heart.

Also, for the love of Christ, where the fuck is Mo Williams? Why does this guy always disappear in big games? It's pathetic at this point. Antawn Jamison could pitch in a little more as well. Shaq though, I can't stand the bastard, but he's been great this series. And I never thought I'd say this, but it's truly a shame that Shaq is the one out there with no help. Absolutely a shame.

So, yeah... not taking anything away from Boston, but Cleveland is handing this series to them. They're playing with zero passion, and right now... LeBron for the first time in his career, is showing his young age.

 

[People's Champ]

I saw the game and what a terrible job. Maybe Lebron doesn't want to stay in Cleveland. His supporting cast is terrible. Anyone who thinks or thought this team outside of Lebron was going to play big in the playoffs was mistaken. Nothing in their history suggest that. Besides Lebron, this team sucks. And if Lebron is going to go out that way and take a game off, then the Cavs have no chance.

Is Lebron trying to make a point? Kinda the way Kobe did against the Suns? Because watching that game was bad on my eyes. It seems like he is just tired of carrying this team night in and night out. There is no way Boston beats them by 32 at home for a game 5. A win would be surprising but not like the way they beat on the Cavs. And just like I lost some respect for Kobe when he no-showed the elimination game, I have lost respect for Lebron. No matter what, you got to go out and leave it all on the court every game. You can't just decide that this game youn are going to take off. JMT is right in that he better play his ass off Thursday.

Unless he doesn't want to be in Cleveland.

 

[Big Sexy]

Not trying to take anything away from Boston but Cleveland is playing like absolute shit. I've always been the first to say LeBron has passed Kobe as the best player in the NBA but in this series there have been some nights he just hasn't shown up and last night was one of them. The elbow is not affecting him significantly and anyone who uses that excuse is full of themselves. The Cavs just aren't playing with any desire and even if they do come back against Boston some how, the Magic will crush them in the east finals.

 

[Nev]

LeBron is the best athlete in the NBA (probably in all of sports), but he's not the most polished like Bryant. If that elbow is limiting a lot of things he could do, perhaps his weaknesses are finally showing.

Actually, forget the elbow. LeBron didn't show up and he pretty choked. (I'm guessing he's officially the Peyton Manning of the NBA). The Cavs played well. Hell, even Shaq played well. This reminds me of Kevin Durant disappearing in game 6 against the Lakers but at least OKC only lost by one point when Durant didn't show up. The Celtics have dominated this series with the exception of game 3. I don't know what the hell is going to happen tomorrow, I'm not going to make any calls because this series is unpredictable. IF that was LBJ's last game in Cleveland, what a pity.

As a Knicks fan, I hope that doesn't mean he leaves the Cavs and comes here. Nobody deserves to go to a shit team like the Knicks. We really, really suck ass on defense and we have no big bodies for the paint and rebounds. Maybe the Knicks can try to buy a championship like the celtics did but that's unlikely.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

It's just not a good sign when Shaq leads your team in scoring at this stage of his career. The Cavs have looked terrible during this series. Lebron will probably get a pass with the "elbow injury" if the Cavs lose this series, and I just don't think that should happen. If the Cavs lose this series, it's because they just weren't good enough to beat the Celtics. Plain and simple.

Even if Cleveland some how manages to beat Boston in game 7, then the Magic will take care of them in the eastern conference finals....AGAIN.

 

[People's Champ]

Well there you go. Done. Lebron gvoes out and scorfes a triple double and gets...nothing from the rest. Jamison? 5 points 5 rebounds. Shaq? 11 points. Only Mo Willams scored over 20 points besides Lebron. Yea the cast heped out Lebron in the most important game of their season. Now they are done and Lebron is gone. Cleveland better have enjoyed the King while they had him. He is finished with the Cavs. Again Lebron does what he had to to keep this team in it, and the rest did nothing.

 

[People's Champ]

I can't edit so let me add this one thing. Lebron needs another superstar with him to get over. I've said it over and over you need 2 guys now in thi league to win and tonight showed it. I'm saying it now, Lebron James and Chris Bosh in N.Y.

 

[jmt225]

Yeah, after tonight, I've come to the conclusion that Boston was simply the better team.

All year I was harping that the REAL Celtics would show up in the playoffs and go all the way, but even I at the very end of the season started to believe the talk that they were too old and this and that; damn, I wish I would have stuck to my guns, because Boston is unquestionably still a GREAT basketball team. Can they beat Orlando? Meh, not so sure about that, but Boston showed these past three games just how good they've always been.

As far as LeBron... he played well tonight, and Mo Williams showed up in the first 3 quarters, but you're right 88... LeBron had hardly any help tonight and couldn't win the game by himself.

Only way LeBron stays in Cleveland now is if they hire Phil Jackson and add a couple of key players. Otherwise, LeBron is out of there, and I for one cannot blame him.

 

[Big Sexy]

Well there you go. Done. Lebron gvoes out and scorfes a triple double and gets...nothing from the rest. Jamison? 5 points 5 rebounds. Shaq? 11 points. Only Mo Willams scored over 20 points besides Lebron. Yea the cast heped out Lebron in the most important game of their season. Now they are done and Lebron is gone. Cleveland better have enjoyed the King while they had him. He is finished with the Cavs. Again Lebron does what he had to to keep this team in it, and the rest did nothing.

Yes LeBron was great tonight overall even though he didn't shoot well but that still doesn't excuse the complete shit he put up in games 4 and 5. Game 4 especially Cleveland was in control and LeBron didn't show up late in the game when he was needed. If LeBron played like this all series long then at the very least this would be going 7 games. The supporting cast sucked tonight but the Cavs still had the better team in this series, they just got outplayed, out hustled, and out coached. LeBron doesn't deserve all of the blame but he does deserve a lot of it for his game 4 and 5 performances when the Cavs had control of the series.

 

[People's Champ]

Yes LeBron was great tonight overall even though he didn't shoot well but that still doesn't excuse the complete shit he put up in games 4 and 5. Game 4 especially Cleveland was in control and LeBron didn't show up late in the game when he was needed. If LeBron played like this all series long then at the very least this would be going 7 games. The supporting cast sucked tonight but the Cavs still had the better team in this series, they just got outplayed, out hustled, and out coached. LeBron doesn't deserve all of the blame but he does deserve a lot of it for his game 4 and 5 performances when the Cavs had control of the series.

Yea well his cast deserves the blame for not coming up in the biggest game of this series. This was the most important of them all because it was an elimination game. Should it have gotten to this point? Not at all. But Lebron came up big. His cast didn't. That's why they aren't going back to home for another game.

 

[Nev]

I don't know about LeBron coming up "big", but he did play well. I mean, people consider LeBron "Choking" because he didn't carry the Cavs last night. I say that's bull. 27 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists is fairly good production, especially considering the Celtics were playing very tough defense on him most of the night (most of the turnovers was good play and instincts by the celtics defense, people need to give them credit.) It's not like the shots LeBron missed were always good looks.

I don't want LeBron to go to the Knicks. We suck. We need to move David Lee to power forward since he's AWFUL on defense. He's a very good rebounder, I'll give him credit for that. The Knicks need a physically dominant center that can play very good defense and defend the paint. I don't know if Chris Bosh fits that mold. I think LeBron's best fit is with Chicago. If the Bulls sign Chris Bosh and LeBron, that's instant dyansty right there. With two bigs in Noah and Bosh, and two elite (and consistent, which is rare in the NBA) scorers in LeBron (MJ) and Derrick Rose (Pippen), they are immediately championship contenders. The Bulls still need to work on their bench though.

 

[Big Sexy]

As good as Boston played against Cleveland, the Magic are the hottest team in the playoffs right now. I actually think the Celtics could steal game 1 because the Magic have been off for so long but eventually I see the Magic winning this series in 6 games.

The Lakers and the Suns series should be a lot of fun. Both teams are playing great right now and I think this is going to be the Lakers toughest test they've had to face in the last couple years in the playoffs. Nash, Stoudamire, and Richardson are a solid threesome and the role players and bench for Phoenix have been great. However, I still see Kobe and the Lakers pulling out the series in 7 games.

 

[Platypus Palsy]

I think it's more the fact that the Magic have played against shit teams in the playoffs more than they're hot right now. They had only lost to the Hawks once this season, and that was on that awesome last second dunk. The Magic had their number already because they matched up with them so well. The Bobcats are just plain average. They had their first good season in forever this year, but it still wasn't as good as the Magic. I still think the Magic should've raped both of those teams, albeit maybe not as bad as they did beat the Hawks.

I can see Boston winning this series, but at the same time I could see the Magic as well. Boston is a lot hotter right now than the Magic because they've had actual competition in the team with the best record in the NBA and the best player in the league. They also haven't had too long of a rest but just enough to get ready for the next series, while the Magic have had a long time to rest and cool down. I think this will be a good series.

The Suns can't match up with the Lakers' big men at all. Amar'e is good, but he can't guard Gasol or Bynum. Nash can make Fisher look stupid though and Hill will be able to guard Kobe well. If the Lakers are going to win this series, they have to have the big men win it. If they don't step up, I see the Suns winning.

As I check on the Magic/Celtics game, I see that the Celtics are raping the Magic like I thought they would.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I wouldn't be surprised if Boston won this series. I know today was only game 1, but the Celtics looked very impressive. The Celtics pretty much dominated the Magic throughout the whole game, and they managed to slow down Dwight Howard. The Magic managed to make a strong comeback towards the end of the game, but it still wasn't enough.

The Magic have finally met a real challenge in the playoffs, and they can't continue to rely so heavily on the 3 point shot.

 

[jmt225]

Yeah, I agree with Big Sexy... nothing about today leads me to believe that Boston can beat Orlando in a 7 game series. Did Boston play well? Sure. Do they deserve credit for the win today? Sure. However, the fact is... Orlando had a huge layoff, while Boston is on a hot streak. Eventually that hot streak will calm down, and Orlando will get their shit together.

Now, I'm not saying Orlando will go on to beat Boston 4-1, but I do think Orlando, overall, is the better team. But, I will make the bold prediction of this series going 7 games and Orlando winning the 7th since it's at their home. Nevertheless, it should be a great, great series. Seeing Vince Carter vs. Ray Allen makes it feel like 2001 all over again, when those two along with Allen Iverson completely dominated the Eastern Conference.